Wish Fulfillment
by brooksburg
Summary: The League of Shadows needed somewhere to experiment before their assault on Gotham. What better place than the second most corrupt city in America?
1. Prologue - In Detention

Wish Fulfillment

by brooksburg

Summary: The League of Shadows needed somewhere to experiment before their assault on Gotham. What better place than the second most corrupt city in America?

Please R&R!

Prologue: In Detention

* * *

June 2011

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

She spoke at the exact moment the nondescript man opened the door, "Are you a psychiatrist? Please say you're not. They're about as useful as cars with square wheels."

The man snorted. "Hardly."

She slumped in her chair. "Thank god. Another evaluation and I'll be ready to strangle myself with my coat. Did I mention how I hate discussing my feelings?"

The man looked at her levelly a moment, then down at the file he brought in. "No, but thank you for clarifying. It only took you two weeks."

"Anytime," she said derisively.

"Now," the man, eyes still on the file. "You are known as Emily Fletcher, born in Lompoc, California. Moved to Thousand Oaks when you were thirteen, graduated from Thousand Oaks High School, and majored in Journalism and Mass Comm. at CSU Long Beach."

"That's right!" Emily said brightly.

He put the file to the side and looked her in the eye, hands clasped in front of him. "You spent, along with your friends Nathan, Chloe, José, and Brian, several weeks there before all five of you dropped out unexpectedly. Your departure was quickly followed by criminal accounts of fraud, conspiracy, assault and battery, blackmail, larceny, and..." he trailed off, "over four thousand counts of murder and manslaughter."

She said nothing. Her mouth only opened and closed continuously while she turned the color of ice. The man said nothing, but his gaze went cold as he stalked out of the room.

As for Emily, she extended her impression of a dying fish long after the door was secure. Memories came flowing forward, and as much as she impeded their progress, they ignored her.

She was close to him now. Very close. She'd make sure Bane regretted the day he met Veronica Mars.

"For you, Dad," she vowed, "Please, remember it's for you," and covered her face.

* * *

Disclaimer: Veronica Mars belongs to Rob Thomas and Warner Brothers, whereas The Dark Knight Rises belongs to Christopher Nolan, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Pictures.


	2. Chapter 1 - Onus Probandi

Chapter 1: Onus Probandi

A/N: The chapter title is Latin for "Burden of proof"

2nd A/N: Takes place soon after the VM series finale "The Bitch is Back".

* * *

Flashback

_May 2007_

_I had just walked out of the voting booth, and lo and behold, it's raining! Just the thing to match my current mood. Angry at Jake Kane, frightened about my father, and as for Logan, I no longer knew where I stood with him. Our relationship, being friends or otherwise, was at present swaying on the head of a pin. I was with Piz now but, even though I would never tell another soul, I missed Logan terribly._

_ I was so wrapped up in thought that I almost failed to notice the great boom six blocks away. I turned to my right slightly and was hit by something unmistakably sharp. I managed a few pithy moments of coherence before I succumbed to the big black void._

* * *

_I woke up to a mantra, "Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay..." and a not unwelcome pressure on my hand._

_ "Logan..." another voice warned._

_ I interrupted the latter voice. "I get it, slave. You're not worthy, now will you please let go of me?" Dear god, I sounded like an old woman. Scratch that, I sounded like me, though probably after living fifty years in the desert._

_ "Veronica, thank god!" Was I being hugged by a literal bear?_

_ "Need...to...breathe...Logan!"_

_ "God, I'm...sorry. Veronica, I'm sorry. How are you feeling?"_

_ "Like I swallowed a palm tree. What happened?"_

_ Logan just looked at me quietly._

_ My alarm bells were ringing. "Logan, what happened?"_

_ My father spoke up, "The River Styx blew up. Apparently there was enough C4 hooked into Liam's Barracuda to level three blocks. The moment he turned on the car, the luck of the Irish fell through. You managed to get caught in the residual debris field. A shard of the Dionne's Bakery sign cut your right cheek open and you fell to the ground unconscious. That was three days ago."_

_ "No leads?"_

_ "Not yet," my dad responded. I had a moment of doubt then. I was lying in a hospital bed, and without a mirror could only speculate as to how many cuts and bruises I had. Now my dad, with the entire sheriff's department on standby, says he hasn't found anything? Either meaning that the guys who planted the bomb in Liam Fitzpatrick's car are highly skilled pros or that he is indirectly responsible. I prayed for the former option._

_ My dad made me aware of the home robberies the Fitzpatricks may have been behind, but I don't believe he'd actually kill someone for the sake of saving his career. His ousting as sheriff due to accusing Jake Kane of Lilly's murder proved that._

_ Still, if this is some sort of retaliation against him, it may rule out Jake Kane's involvement. One, the press has already been apprised of the 'disappearing evidence' that saw me climbing into the Kane's house. Two, Jake Kane likes to do things subtly, be it through paper trails, computers or bribing his staff. It's outside his repertoire. Whether or not he's responsible in some way is a question I'll have to revisit. I'm going to go with option #3: that it is a group of highly skilled pros, possibly vigilantes, who've made the mistake of coming to Neptune. Professional, maybe. But everyone manages to slip up at some point in their lives, and I'll make sure to expedite their fall._

_ Whoever _they _are._

_ Getting back to the conversation, however, proved difficult, as the absent pain henceforth made a reappearance._

_ I hissed. Not unlike practice in a lamaze class, but the pain became excruciating. My shoulder felt it had been rammed by a table saw and my face had been caressed by a hot poker. If this is what delivering a baby is like, I want no part of it._

_ My pride in subsidence, Logan and my dad called for a doctor and, said doctor, Susan Liang, softly told them there was no emergency. The morphine drip had only slowed down enough for the stitches to throb. No biggie, she says. Want to trade places with _ME?! _I'm more than happy to oblige!_

_ Unfortunately, the doctor left before I could so much as throw a tantrum. The morphine drip kicked in moments later._

_ My mind started to wander, but I had one thing I still needed to say._

_ "I'll get the proof, daaaaad...jusssssst yoooouuuu waiiiiitttt..."_

_ Logan chuckled. "Determined to the end, huh, Mars?"_

_ "All the way to Mount Dooooooooom..."_

_ Dad took that moment to kiss me on the forehead. "That's my girl."_

_ I fell asleep._


	3. Chapter 2 - Overwhelming Abdication

Chapter Two - Overwhelming Abdication

* * *

June 2011

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Veronica opened her eyes to a gun barrel.

Without thinking, she pushed the chair forward with her feet, making it impact amidst his crotch. The nondescript man let out an 'oomph' but was once again swinging the gun in her direction. She retaliated quickly by letting her chair fly at his face, then upending the table to dodge any stray bullets.

The man fell into a daze in seconds, and then Veronica was on him, holding the gun to his chin.

"Where is he?"

The man swallowed, but said nothing.

"Where is he?!"

A quiet chuckle escaped his mouth. "You'll never find him."

"Really?" Her cynical tone lingered in his ears, but her eyes held a fire he'd seen in only a few individuals. "I've gotten this far." She promptly shot him in the knee. "Care to try again?"

"AAAAAAAAGH! YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

"Ooh, strong words, but nothing new. It will be your stomach next time. So answer me honestly. Where. is. BANE?!"

He hissed sharply to try and ignore the pain in his leg. "Gotham. He's in Gotham City. Now, are you done playing games, little girl? There's no way you can fight him."

"I never said anything about fighting him. I just want him dead. And no, we're not done. I have one last thing to do here."

"What's that?"

"Gain satisfaction." With that, she hit him rapidly in succession, favoring the butt of the gun to connect with his face. She stopped only upon noticing he was unconscious.

Thereupon the door burst open, and she swung the gun around. Logan and Mac stood in the doorway, faces flushed. Veronica lowered the gun slowly.

"Veronica, are you okay?" Logan asked, gripping her shoulders.

Her face was set. "I will be."

"We got worried when you weren't at the police station. Mac, fortunately, memorized the guy's license plate and we followed it here."

"Glad you did. What about Wallace and Weevil?"

"Acting as sentinels outside, just in case this guy wasn't alone."

"Trust me, he was." She started walking. "We need to get back to the hotel now, and start packing."

"Where we going?" This came from Weevil, leaning on the side of the van.

"Gotham City."

"Gotham?!"

"You nuts, V?"

"Veronica, the cops there will be on us like wolves on sheep!"

Veronica shook her head. "We managed to evade them thus far. Besides I get the feeling they'll be otherwise occupied."

They all paused for a minute. "Bane's there, isn't he?" Wallace finally asked.

"Yep."

Another pause.

It was almost frightening the way they all, save Veronica, chorused, "We're in."

She glanced at each of them turn, looking for any hint of uncertainty. She found none, and nodded. "Let's go."


End file.
